February 28, 2013, Milan, Italy (ISN) – Margaret Purdy of Strathroy, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., won the silver medal in pairs on Thursday at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier of the U.S., took the gold with 155.83 points followed by the Canadians who tabulated 154.70. Lina Fedorova and Maxim Miroshkin of Russia posted the best score in the free skate to climb from seventh to third.

Purdy and Marinaro’s routine to “The Artist” was highlighted by a triple toe-double toe combination, double Axel, throw triple Salchow and level-four lifts and spins. The Canadians, also second after the short program, set a new seasons best with 101.61 points for the free program.

“We had to fight through our program but we achieved our goal for the season,” said Marinaro. “It was a very close competition and we expect we’ll be battling the American pair for years to come. Now we look forward to moving into the senior level and we have our eyes on the Olympics for sure.”

“We are very happy with our performances that we had,” said Marinaro. “We’re very proud of the season that we had and it is a good way to end off our junior career and ready to step into seniors next year.”

Brittany Jones of Toronto and Ian Beharry of Guelph, Ont., took sixth spot and Hayleigh Bell of Acton, Ont., and Alistair Sylvester of Stratford, Ont., were 11th after standing 14th after Wednesday’s short program.

In men’s competition, Americans are 1-2-3 after the short program. Joshua Farris is first, Shotaro Omori second and Jason Brown third.

Mitchell Gordon of Vancouver and Nam Nguyen of Burnaby, B.C., are 15th and 16th respectively.

Competition continues Friday with the women’s short program and the free dance.